


Brotherly Instincts

by eveningstar



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, M/M, Mention of underage drinking, References to Alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 06:10:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13607226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eveningstar/pseuds/eveningstar
Summary: Sakuya goes to Tasuku for romantic advice.





	Brotherly Instincts

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be SeiSaku but ended up 80% TaaTsumu domestic fluff.

Tasuku was a little brother. He was not a big brother. He was the one who went to someone older for advice, not the one who gave it out. He enjoyed talking to Sakuma and Hyodo about acting, but he wasn’t good at bonding with the younger members of the company the way some of the others were. He couldn’t explain high school physics simply like Tsumugi, couldn’t subtly point them in the right direction like Fushimi, couldn’t distract them from their worries like Minagi. His lack of brotherly instincts had never really bothered him, though. Until now.

“Tasuku-san… When did you realise you were in love with Tsumugi-san?”

Tasuku nearly choked on his water. Sakuya was a brighter shade of red than usual as they rested in the park before running back to the dorms, but Tasuku had put it down to the warm weather. It seemed he was wrong.

It wasn’t – he and Tsumugi had made no attempt to hide their relationship – Tsumugi out of principle, saying that it was good for the school students to be exposed to a healthy gay couple, and for Tasuku, well, after all those years at God-za, he was sick of pretending to be something he wasn’t. It was refreshing, in Mankai Company, the way everyone could just be themselves and not be judged for it (even if he personally felt that certain members _should_ be being judged, at least a little), a sense of safety that had been absent in the cutthroat world of God-za. It helped bring out better performances from the members, too, that much was clear from the most recent Fuyugumi show.

And it was nice, to be able to touch Tsumugi whenever he wanted to, to grab a quick kiss when he came home, to let Tsumugi lean against him during a break in rehearsal – and the cherry on top? Imagining how Reni must be fuming over rumours that his heartthrob prince was gay.

But still. He did not like where this was going. Sakuya’s nerves had apparently overrun his patience and he went on.

“It’s just… Last night, when we were watching that movie, and you and Tsumugi-san were sitting on the sofa together, and Tsumugi-san fell asleep and you had your arms around him and I realised, there’s someone I want to do that with, and, I think, maybe, what if I’m in love?”

… There it was. This was not something Tasuku wanted to be dealing with this morning, on what was meant to be a perfectly normal run, just a few kilometres to the park and back, not… Tasuku-niisan’s Romantic Advice Corner, or whatever Sakuma was hoping for. Why didn’t he go to someone in Harugumi? Or Miyoshi, he seemed like he would be all too willing to provide dating advice to anyone who asked.

“Is it a girl from school?” asked Tasuku. He had, technically, dated girls, so he should, technically, be able to advise – except that most of his relationships had been fairly disastrous, if he was honest with himself.

Sakuya blushed even harder.

“No. It’s…”

“ _Oh, God,_ ” thought Tasuku, “ _it’s going to be someone from the company, he doesn’t know anyone outside of the company, he’s going to tell me who, please don’t, I don’t want to know, who is even close to? Oh no, he’s always saying that Chigasaki is cool, please don’t have a crush on Chigasaki…_ ”

“Do you remember the idols we performed with a while ago? The, uh, the I-Chus?”

Oh. He did have a friend outside of the company after all. Tasuku nodded mutely, mind racing – who had they been again? There was the one that Arisugawa had become fast friends with, the one who was just as bad as him, if not worse. Surely it wasn’t that one? Wait, there was one that dressed like Rurikawa, but a little bit older? Maybe that one?

“He, um, after we performed together, his next performance, he, he said something, that was kind of a message to me, and I felt so… I don’t know, warm inside? Because it meant he was thinking about me, even when he was on stage, and when he texts me, it feels different to getting a text from anyone else, and sometimes he’ll send me photos of himself, just, when he’s getting ready or having lunch, and I think about how that photo is just for me and no one else will ever have a copy of it, and sometimes I send him photos, but I retake them a hundred times before I take one that’s good enough, and then he tells me that I look cool and my heart starts beating really fast, and when we went to see that production of Hamlet together? I was so nervous I could hardly pay attention to the play because he was next to me and I’ve been watching videos of his performances and there’s this one song where –“

 “Okay,” Tasuku held up a hand to stop him. “Okay. Yes. That is definitely a crush, at the very least.”

 Sakuya’s shoulders slumped.

 “Tasuku-san, what do I do? What did you and Tsumugi-san do?”

 It was Tasuku’s turn to blush. It didn’t really seem appropriate to tell Sakuma about the game of cat and mouse he and Tsumugi had played throughout their teenage years, both fairly certain of what was going on, but neither quite confident enough to risk their friendship by taking the first step. Whispered intimations late at night, practiced stage kisses, where the millimeters between them felt like miles,  confessions hidden in etudes, until some “borrowed” alcohol from Tasuku’s brother pushed them both over the edge. (Looking back, Tasuku realised it was likely that neither of them had been as drunk as they had seemed, but, well, they were both very good actors.)

 “It just sort of … happened.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry, that’s not very helpful, is it? Maybe you should try asking Tsumugi…”

 Sakuya looked down at his water bottle in contemplation.

 “Do you think it will just happen for me?”

 Tasuku blinked, then sighed. He may not have been a big brother, but he did play baseball, and he recognised when it was time to step up to the plate.

“I don’t know. But even if it does, it’s not enough. Tsumugi and I just let it happen, without talking about it, and then when he gave up acting like it didn’t matter to him, I felt like it meant I didn’t matter to him, either. It wasn’t until we joined Mankai that we actually talked about… about our feelings, I guess, and it wasn’t until then that it… that we…” he grimaced as he tried to find the right words, as though offended that they hadn’t immediately leapt to mind.

 “What you saw last night. That didn’t happen until we talked. So if that’s what you want, you’re going to have to talk to him.”

 “But what if he doesn’t feel the same way? What if everything is awkward after?”

 “That might happen. And when you go out on stage, you might forget all your lines, or you might come on too early or trip during a fight sequence. You might completely embarrass yourself and ruin the performance. But you do it anyway, right? Because you love it, so you know it’s worth the risk. Do you love this boy enough that it’s worth the risk?”

Sakuya looked at him with shining eyes.

“Tasuku-san! You’re so cool! So grown-up!”

Tasuku glanced away, embarrassed. He made a show of checking his watch.

“Come on,” he said gruffly, “That’s enough chitchat. We should head back or we’ll be late for breakfast.”

 ---

Tasuku had done his level best to forget about the morning’s conversation and had mostly succeeded by the time he was lying in bed, reading a fitness magazine with Tsumugi pressed warm against his side. He had just finished reading the article on the pros and cons of all protein diets and was about to turn the light out when Tsumugi propped himself to see Tasuku’s face.

“You know, apparently Sakuya has a crush on a boy,” said Tsumugi.

Why did his day have to be bookended by this?

“So he asked you for advice too?”

“No, I heard from Banri and Citron. He asked you for advice?” Tsumugi’s eyes twinkled. “What did you say? Did you give him a step by step guiding to winning the man of your dreams? Since you did such a good job of it.”

Tasuku refused to dignify that with a response.

“Settsu? I didn’t know he and Sakuma were that close.”

“I’m not sure that they are, but apparently Seiya is all Sakuya’s been talking about on the way to and from school for weeks. And Citron says he spends hours sighing over a poster he’s put up in their room – well, Citron said he’d been signing, but I assume –“

“He’s got that bad, huh?” said Tasuku. “Do you remember the boy? I was busy with that other show when they were doing the workshop thing, I never saw much of them.”

“Not really, but Banri pulled up some videos of his performances. He’s very… energetic.”

“Nanao energetic or Miyoshi energetic?”

“Taichi, but with more confidence. He seems nice.”

“Well, I hope it doesn’t end in heartbreak for Sakuma.” Tasuku reached for the remote for the lights, but Tsumugi pushed himself up further and grabbed Tasuku’s outstretched hand, squeezing it.

“You know, he should come and have dinner at the dorms one night!”

“No.”

“And then he could stay over! Sakuya’s never had a proper sleepover party with a friend, right? We could let Citron stay in our room for the night and –“

“Absolutely not. We are not playing matchmakers to teenage boys.”

\---

A week later, a spare futon had been laid out in 204, and Citron was excitedly turning over the events of dinner with Tsumugi like some kind of teenage girl.

By the time Seiya came around for dinner, it seemed that the entire company knew about Sakuya’s crush, and was invested in seeing him succeed. Even Masumi was apparently ready to do whatever he could to help, which had surprised everyone until he pointed out that if Sakuya starting dating someone, it was one less rival for the director’s affections, and spent the evening greatly talking up Sakuya’s talent, looks and personality, which was the only time anyone managed to divert the idol’s attention from Sakuya himself. The boy was perfectly polite, to be sure, and did seem to want to talk to everyone, but as soon as anyone tried to engage him in extended conversation, his eyes kept flicking back to Sakuya in a very unsubtle way.  

Tasuku smiled to himself. Sakuma was home and hosed on this one. While they were clearing the table, Tasuku had bumped against the boy and given him a reassuring nod. He had flushed red, but gave an answering nod. Tasuku silently wished the boy luck and courage - even though he didn’t seem to have need of the former, and had never lacked for the latter.

“Tonight was very handsome Sakuya, ne, Tasuku?” Citron was apparently determined to drag Tasuku into this conversation. He snorted.

“I don’t think it wouldn’t have mattered to that kid what Sakuma was wearing. He’s got it just as bad, if not worse.”

Still, there was no denying that Sakuma had looked nice. Rurikawa had spent hours making the poor boy try on clothes, raided from every closet in the dorm, before declaring him presentable, and Azuma had foisted all manner of creams and lotions on him a week before, with extensive instructions regarding their use.

(“I thought we were meant to be supporting the boy, not torturing him,” Tasuku had muttered to Tsumugi when Rurikawa came to imperiously demand access to their wardrobes.)

“It brings back memories, doesn’t it, Tasuku?” Tsumugi smiled at him. They had retired to their room with a bottle of whisky to celebrate the apparent success of the evening, and Tsumugi was looking concerningly pink-cheeked. Not particularly conscientious about holding his tongue regarding embarrassing stories from Tasuku’s past when sober, Tasuku did not want Tsumugi to start strolling down memory lane when tipsy. Particularly this memory lane. Tasuku flashed him a warning look, but Tsumugi didn’t notice (or at least pretended not to).

“All those nights staying at your house, pressing my face into the pillow because it smelt like you and feeling as close to heaven as I thought I’d ever get. Do you remember your old pyjamas, that grey t-shirt and green boxers? I remember how -”

“ _Tsumugi_ ,” Tasuku growled and Tsumugi finally fell silent, looking quite pleased with himself.

“I think Seiya is close to heaven now, ne.”

“ _Citron_.”

\---

Tasuku scowled into his black coffee. Citron had kept talking late into the night, his Japanese becoming more and more incomprehensible as he drank. As a result, Tasuku had overslept and missed his morning run.

Omi smiled at him sympathetically as he handed him an egg white and spinach omelette, before addressing the table.

“Has anyone seen the young lovers yet? I want to start making the last batch of pancakes, but I don’t want them to get cold…”

Kazunari leapt up, phone in hand.

“I’ll go check on them! And get something for my Story while I’m at it!”

“Honestly, is privacy a completely foreign concept to you?” Tsuzuru pulled Kazunari back down to his chair.

“ _I’ll go_ ,” said the director.

“Careful,” warned Azuma, “we wouldn’t want you to see anything that might be improper for a young lady.”

The director sent him a withering look on her way out.

She came back soon after with a slightly pink tinge to her cheeks and reported that they would be along soon, but refused to answer any questions about the state she had found them in. Still, it seemed safe to assume Sakuya had been successful, then.

The assumption proved correct when the boys in question shuffled into the dining room, a little shyly, with hands entwined, and Banri burst into laughter.

“Good thing it’s getting cold,” he said, eyes dancing. “Time to pull out the scarves, hey, Sakuya?”

Sakuya blinked in confusion but Banri just grinned.

“Sakuya,” Tsuzuru offered gently, tapping the side of his neck, “Have you looked in a mirror this morning?”

Sakuya’s hand flew to his neck, covering the red mark a little too late.

“My, my, Seiya. I suspected you might have a possessive streak.” Azuma smiled politely, as though he was commenting on the weather and not freely admitting to speculating on the sex lives of teenage boys.

“I - I didn’t, I mean, Sakuya, when he - I -” Seiya tried to sputter out an explanation.

“Wow, it’s this season’s hottest trend for couples - matching blushes!” Kazunari snapped a photo of the pair before Tsuzuru could stop him.

Still, it was clear that Sakuya was pleased and at least a little proud, if embarrassed, smiling and pulling Seiya’s hand closer. Tasuku recognised the expression, having seen it often enough on Tsumugi when they were subjected to the same friendly ribbing.

“All right, all right, that’s enough of that. Breakfast is ready,” Omi emerged from the kitchen with a large stack of golden pancakes. He set them on the table then looked regarded the boys with a devious glint in his eye. “I dare say you boys have worked up an appetite.”

\---

That night, there was a knock at 204. Tsumugi called the visitor in and Sakuya stuck his head in shyly through the door.  

“Um, excuse me.”

Tsumugi beamed at him, ushering him into the room.

“Sakuya! How was your date today?”

“Honestly,” Sakuya smiled bashfully, “it wasn’t very different to hanging out normally, but it was? We did the same things as we always do, but I felt… more? Do you know what I mean? I don’t know how to describe it, but, mm, I felt _more_.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” said Tasuku, glancing at Tsumugi.

It had been the same for him - both times. As teenagers, when the embers had finally burst into flame and every moment suddenly burned red hot. When every action seemed laden with meaning, at least to Tasuku, when coming back from the vending machine with an extra coffee  Tsumugi was his way of saying that he would always be there to provide for and indulge Tsumugi, the sort of thing he would never say aloud, except it turned out that Tsumugi couldn’t always hear what he was saying unless he said it aloud. As adults, just a little over half a year ago, less like a fire and more like a glacier melting into a waterfall, when Tasuku was nearly bowled over by the realisation of all he’d been missing out on, when he discovered how to - yeah, feel more.

Tasuku shook his head - fire and waterfalls, it was like Arisugawa was starting to rub off on him or something. He looked back to Sakuya

“Ah, Tasuku-san...” he held out a paper bag patterned with dark blue and green flowers. “I wanted to say thank you, for giving me advice that day. If it wasn’t for you…”

Tasuku scowled at the colour he could feel rising on his cheeks.

“I didn’t do anything. I’m sure you two would have figured it out anyway.”

“Even so,” Sakuya was undeterred. “I appreciated your support. I saw this while we were out - it’s a book of essays by that actor we saw in King Lear a couple of months ago. I remember you were really impressed by him.”

Tasuku knew he shouldn’t be surprised that Sakuma had remembered - it was the sort of consideration he always showed, it was part of what made him such a good leader - but he was still impressed. He rose from his sofa and took the bag, thanking him, and began flicking through the book. It looked fascinating. Each essay focused on a character he had played and he wrote in detail about his process for preparing for each role. Tasuku began skimming the contents list - he’d seen more of this actor’s performances than he had realised, and there were a number he was particularly curious to read about.

Tsumugi laughed.

Tasuku looked up from his book in surprise - he’d already half-forgotten the other two people in the room. Sakuya looked equally surprised.

“Sakuya, you did the near impossible! Do you know how hard he is to buy for?”

“Tasuku-san?”

“He’d always get so many soccer balls for his birthday in high school because no one knew what else to get him.”

Sakuya considered this.

“I didn’t really think about it? I just saw it and remembered - should I have gotten a soccer ball?” he asked Tasuku.

“You didn’t need to get me anything,” Tasuku replied sternly, “But thank you. I’m glad that everything worked out for you.”

“Thank you,” Sakuya beamed back at him. “I’m - me too.”

Tasuku couldn’t help but smile back at the kid. He really was happy for him. It would be impossible for anyone not to be - the joy radiating off him was contagious. He was a good kid who seemed to have had a fairly rough time of things most of his life, he deserved this. And - though Tasuku would never admit it out loud in a million years - it was adorable how smitten he was.

Sakuya glanced at their clock and yelped something about Harugumi rehearsal and darted out of the room, pausing at the door to bow and excuse himself.

Tsumugi sat down on the sofa and tugged on Tasuku’s shirt, indicating he was to join him. He lifted the book out of Tasuku’s hands and began to flick through it.

“It looks interesting,” he concluded. “Lend it to me when you’re done?”

Never one to waste words stating the obvious, Tasuku didn’t bother to reply as he took the proffered book back. Still holding the book at one end, Tsumugi kissed Tasuku on the cheek.

“You did a good thing, helping Sakuya like that.”

Tasuku tugged the book out of Tsumugi’s hand.

“Like I said, I didn’t do anything.”

“He looks up to you. They all do, you know. Tenma and Juza and Taichi - even the older ones like Tsuzuru and Omi.”

Once again, Tasuku responded with silence. He knew Tsumugi wasn’t wrong, exactly, but the idea was still strange to him. There were certainly younger members of God-za who had often come to him for advice, but it was obvious they were just looking for tricks and tips to get ahead. There was respect, to be sure, but not admiration.

“You’re picking up little brothers all over the place,” Tsumugi laughed again and leaned against Tasuku. “I can’t wait to tell your brother next time we go home.”

“Little brothers…” echoed Tasuku, wrapping an arm around Tsumugi’s shoulders and drawing him close. He pressed a kiss into his boyfriend’s hair.

Maybe he wasn’t entirely lacking in brotherly instincts after all, he thought, opening the book to the first page.


End file.
